Gun-controlling mechanism



Sept. 26, 1950 H. F. LANDSTAD" 2,523,959

GUN-CONTROLLING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 16, 1945 6 Sheets Sheet 1 in z) el-2:01P

FLQIZCZSW I P 6, 1950 H. F. LANDSTAD $523,959

GUN-CONTROLLING MECHANISM Sept. 26, 1950 H. F. LANDSTAD GUN- CONTROLLINGMECHANISM 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 16, 1945 Sept. 26, 1950 H. F.LANDSTAD 2,523,959

GUN-CONTROLLING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 16, 1945 e Sheets-Sheet 4 u ,5 t Qj. j v

5 I g i 'l I l I i1: 1s b 0 1 19 a Fig.4 1122118171111 ZZTLmdstQd Sept.26, 1950 H. F. LAN DS'i'Al D I 7 2,523,959. GUN-CONTROLLING MECHANISM IFiled Oct. 16, 1945 v 6 S he 5 Sept.'26, 1950 H. F. LANDSTAD 2,523,959

GUN-CONTROLLING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 16, 1945 s Sheets-Sheet e PatentedSept. 26, 1950 GUN-CONTROLLING MECHANISM Halvor Folkestad Landstad,Cowley, Oxford, Eng-.- land, assignor to Morris Motors, Limited, Cowley,Oxford, England Application October 16, 1945, Serial No. 622,513

In Great Britain September. 1, 1944 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8,1946 Patent expires September 1, 1964 This invention has for its objectto provide improved gyrostatic mechanism for automatically compensatingthe effects of pitching and rolling on the setting of guns (and ifdesired of the sights also), search lights, listening posts or similardirectionally-adjustable apparatus used on ships, military tanks or thelike.

In the accompanying sheets of explanatory drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan, Figure 2, a side elevation and Figure 3 an endelevation of a gun controlling apparatus embodying the invention, allthe parts being shown in the position they would occupy when theapparatus is at rest and mounted on a horizontal base. is coincidentwith the axis of the upper and Figure 4 is an end view showing therelative middle arm when the mechanismis at rest (see positions of theparts when the gun is elevated Figure 1), and the fourth arm h' isattached and its mounting is tilted through anangle to the memberd bypivots h on a vertical pivot corresponding to and representing an effecto'f= axis (see Figure 2)'.' These arms are'intended: rolling motion. 1to be movable relatively to each other andalso Figures 5 and 6illustrate to a larger scale certain parts of the apparatus shown inFigures 1 and 2.

Figure 7 is a cross section on the li'neIT-J of Figure 6.

Figure 8 illustrates diagrammatically a combined gyrostat fly wheel andelectric motor.

Figure 9 illustrates diagrammatically a device for imparting rotarymovements to the gun sightf in response to rolling of'th'e gun mounting.

In carrying the invention into efiect as shown, I employ a main bracketor support a adapted to be secured to or form part of the gun mounting.On this bracket there is pivotally supported by coaxial trunnions b amember b having its pivot axis horizontal and at right angles to thevertical plane containing the axis of the gun barrel. This membercarries in a depending bracket b a controlling gyrostat 0 adapted tohold the said member stationary in space when the gun-is subiect topitching movements, that is to say, to. provent the said member frommoving about its pivot axis when the bracket (1, follows pitchingmovements of the gun.

On the said member b there is pivotally supported by coaxial pins danother member d also carrying in a frame-like housing d a controllinggyrostat 0 The pivot axis of this second member is horizontal and in orparallel with the vertical plane containing the axis of the gun barrel,this member being held stationary in space by its gyrostat when the gun"is subjected to rolling movements, that is to say, being prevented byits gyrostat from moving about its pivot axis when the member I) followsrolling movements of the gun.

3 Claims. (Cl. 745.22)

the member b, the flangebeing held in con On the said member at arepivotally mounted three adjacent and associated radial arms 6, ffg.

The arms e and f (herein referred to as the upper and middle arms) arerespectively connected to.

the member d by coaxial pivots e f (Figure 1) and have a commonhorizontal pivot axis which porting member b. The third arm g" (hereinreferred to as the lower arm) has'a unive'rsalpivotal connection withthe member d,*this be ing efiected,in the example shown, by the use of afourth arm h. The arm g is attached to the arm h by pivots g on ahorizontal axis which jointly as hereinafter described. a 7

At the forward end of the first gyrostat s'up-' porting member b isarranged a segmental member'z' which is slidably' supported by'the; saidmember and is inovablef relatively thereto an- With these rollers a pairof thii'd rollr s which are carried by arms'n pivoted on the me'mber band held in cont'act'with the "front of the flange by sprihgsb. InFigure 2 only one roller m, arm n' and spring-o is shown theircounterparts being situated at the opposite side of the;

member 19. The'front face of this segmental" member z' is provided witha toothed rack '19 engaged by a pinion-q (Figure 6) whereby the;- saidmember can be raised or lowered, the teeth" of the. gun barrel, thespindle being so located that the point of intersection of thepitchcircle of the pinion and the pitch line of the-rack1 coincides withthe pivot axis of the second g'yro stat supporting member d (seeFigures" and 5);,

The-upper end of the segmental member 'z' is which extends beyond bothsides-of this arm";

The pin of the lower arm passes through the slot t of the cross piece tand thereby interconnects the lower and middle arms. Also the crosspiece is formed with an upward extension t which is formed with a guideslot t which receives the forward end of the upper arm e. At the outerend of the upper arm e is pivotally attached another segmental member u.in the form of a toothed rack which extends along the outer face of thefirst mentioned segmental member z, and which is also engaged by thepinion q on the spindle r the teeth of this rack being shown in Figures3, 4, and '7, and being indicated by u A spacing collar w carried on thepinion q lies between the segmental arms and serves to keep the armsapart.

The above described arrangement of arms and associated parts is suchthat the three arms e, f, g can be raised or lowered together by thepinion q concurrently with the normal elevating movements of the gunbarrel.

The pinion q also serves as a fixed fulcrum piece about which thesegmental member 2 can tilt laterally in response to rolling movementsof the gun mounting.

When the gun barrel is in its rest position the arms 6, f, g occupy thepositions shown in Figures 2, 3 and 6. In this condition the pin 3 icoaxial with the pinion q, and if rolling of the gun mounting occurs,the consequential lateral tilting movement of the segmental member 2'about the fulcrum formed by the pinion has a negligible effect on therelative positions of the arms e, f, q. As, however, the rollingmovement of the gun mounting merely causes the gun barrel to turn aboutits longitudinal axis, it is unnecessary to compensate the effect of therolling movement. If, on the other hand, the gun barrel is elevated fromits rest position, the movement imparted to the arms e, f, g by thepinion q causes the pin 8 to be raised out of coaxial relationship withthe pinion, and if in this condition rolling of the gun mounting occurs,the consequential lateral tilting movement of the segmental member iabout the pinion causes the lower arm .g to move about both of its axesthrough arcs depending on the elevation of the gun barrel, and by reasonof the interaction-of the pin s and the slot in the cross piece t themiddle arm 7 is simultaneously moved about its horizontal pivot axis ina vertical plane away from the upper arm e. Meanwhile the upper armremains stationary due to the engagement of the pinion q with thetoothed rack 11,, and is only moved when the gunner changes theelevation of the gun. The relative movements of the arms are such thatthey can be utilised to cause training and elevating movements to begiven to the gun for compensating the effects of rolling.

In one known form of gun setting mechanism, electric motors are employedfor training and elevating the gun. These motors are controlled by thegunner through a universally movable lever, or joy-stick, which acts onappropriate intermediate mechanism. To enable the present invention tobe applied to such a gun actuating mechanism, I employ an additionalpair of motors together with a known form of electrical controller whichcan cause the additional motors to impart independent movements to thegun, and I arrange for the controller to be responsive to relativemovements of the parts of the gyrostat mechanism above described. Tocompensate the efiects of pitching on the gun setting, I utilise therelatively angular movements of the .4 bracket and the gyrostat member bfor actuating the part of the controller associated with the elevatingmotor of the gun. To compensate the effect of rolling, it is required toimpart both training and elevating compensatory movements to the gun. Toobtain the required compensatory training movements I utilise therelative angular movements between the fourth arm h and the gyrostatsupporting member d on which it is mounted, for actuating the part ofthe controller associated with the training of the gun, and at the sametime the relative movements of the upper and middle arms 6, f areutilised for actuating the part of the controller associated with theelevating of the gun.

The aforesaid relative movements may be used in a variety of ways foractuating the controller. For example, rack and pinion mechanisms may beprovided at appropriate positions, and these are illustrated in adiagrammatic manner in some of the accompanying drawings. Thus tocompensate the efiect of pitching I arrange a rack and pinion mechanismbetween the bracket a and the part of the member b which carries thegyrostat c, as shown in Figure 2, a curved rack 2 on the said part ofthe member b being engaged by a pinion 3 on the adjacent part of thebracket. Rotary motion of the pinion is caused to actuate any convenientelectrical contact device associated with the controller, the saiddevice being mounted on the bracket 0. in direct connection with thepinion, or being mounted in any other convenient position and connectedto the pinion by a flexible shaft. As the contact device is of knownform and is not a part of the invention, it has not been thoughtnecessary to illustrate it, it-being sufficient to indicate only adevice (e. g. a rack and pinion) whereby the relative movements betweena and b can be utilised. In

like manner, themembers 6 and ;f may be interconnected by a rack 4 andpinion 5 (Figure 2). To interconnect the part It and member 01 I form onthe outer end of the-part h (which is supported by a roller 6 on themember d, Figure 2) a rack I which engages a'pinion 8 on the member (2.

The rotary. fly wheel parts of the gyrostats.

may be driven in any convenient'manner, such as by a compressed airturbine or electric motor.

An example of a combined fly-wheel and electric motor is illustrateddiagrammatically at Figure 8. The fly wheel is represented by 9 andwithin it is arranged a motor field system I0. Within the field systemis arranged arelatively stationary armature H which is carried on anadjacent part of the gyrostat.

A gun of the kind to which the above described invention is applicable,is usually fitted with a fore-sight in the field of which are arrangedradial and circular lines, which may be lines on a graticule, or wiresmounted in an open ring, this latter being commonly termed a cart-wheelsight. For convenience of the gun layer when using the sight it isdesirable that angular movements about its axis should be given to thesight corresponding to the rolling motion of the gun mounting. Toenable'this requirement toibe met I employ a rotary sight of the kindabove mentioned. This is indicated diagrammatically at Figure 9 by thenumeral I2. The sight may be carried on a bracket l3 mounted on the gun(which is indicated by the part M in the diagram). On the bracket ismounted a smallelectric motor I5 which rotates a worm I6 engaging atoothed segment I! on the sight. The. motor is controlled by similarcontrolling means to that associated with the elevating and trainingmotors of the gun, and the controller is itself actuated by mechanismdependent on relative movements of the members b, at so that angularmotion of the sight l2 accompanies rolling of the gun mounting. Onemethod of actuating the controller is similar to those already describedand consists of a rack I8 on the member 01 engaging a, pinion l9 on themember b as represented diagrammatically in Figure 4, the rotary motionof the pinion as a consequence of rolling serving to actuate thecontroller and so cause an angular motion corresponding to the amount ofrolling to be imparted to the sight.

By this invention I am able to effect the desired compensatory movementof the gun setting (and also of the sight if desired) in a very simpleand satisfactory manner. The invention is not, however, restricted tothe examples described, as subordinate details may be modified to suitdifierent requirements and different forms of gun actuating mechanisms.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. Means for automatically compensating the effects of pitching androlling on the setting of directionally-adjustable apparatus, comprisingin combination a main support capable of pitching and rolling movements,a member pivotally mounted on said support, a gyrostat mounted on saidmember to prevent movement thereof about its pivot axis in response topitching of said support, a second member pivotally mounted on the firstmember with its pivot axis at right angles to that of said first member,a second gyrostat mounted on said second member to prevent movementthereof about its pivot axis in response to rolling of said support, asystem of three arms pivotally carried by said second member and jointlymovable in a vertical plane, means for imparting lateral movement to oneof said arm nd vertical movement to another of said arms in response torolling of said support, means responsive to relative movement of saidsuppdrt and first member for initiating motion to compensate the effectof pitching of said support, and means responsive to movements of saidarms for initiating the motion to compensate the effect of rolling ofsaid support.

2. Means for automatically compensating the effects of pitching androlling on the setting of directionally-adjustable apparatus, comprisingin combination a main support capable of pitching and rolling movements,2, member pivotally mounted on said support, a gyrostat mounted on saidmember to prevent movement thereof'about its pivot axis in response topitching of said support, a second member pivotally mounted on the firstmember with its pivot axis at right angles to that of said first member,a second gyrostat mounted on said second member to prevent movementthereof about its pivot axis in response to rolling of said support,three arms pivotally carried by said second member and arranged oneabove the other, the upper and middle arms vbeing movable in a verticalplane about a horizontal axis at one end of said arms, and the lower armconsisting of a pair of parts one of which is movable about a horizontalaxis coincident with thatof the other arms, and'the other. of whichparts is movable about a vertical axis, a horizontally slotted crosspiece on they outer end of the middle arm, a pair of adjacentracksrespectively. carried by a said first member and upper arm, a pinpassing through the slotted cross piece and connecting the lower arm tothe rack car? ried by said first member, a pinion carried by said Ifirst member and engaging said racks, means for rotating said pinion,means responsive to relative movement between said first member and mainsupport for initiating motion to compensate the efiect of pitching ofsaid supportyandv means responsive to movements of said arms forinitiating motion to compensate the effect of rolling of said support.

3. Means for automatically compensating the effects of pitching androlling on the setting of directionally adjustable apparatus, comprisingin combination a main support capableof pitching V and rollingmovements, .a member pivotally mounted on said support, a gyrostatmountedon;

said member to prevent movement thereof about its pivot axis in responseto pitching/or said sup-' port, a second member pivotally mounted on thefirst member with its pivot axis at rightangles to that of said firstmember, asecond gyrostat mounted-bu said second member to preventmovement thereof about its pivot axis in response to rolling of'saidsupport, three armspiv'otally carried by said second member and arrangedone above'the other, the upper andmiddle arms beingmovable in a verticalplane about ahori zontal axis'at one end of said arms, and the lower armconsisting of two parts oneof which is movable about'a horizontal axiscoincidentwith that of the other arms, and the other of which I 2 partsis movable about a vertical axis, a horizontally slotted cross piece onthe outer end of the middle arm, a pair-of adjacentracks respectivelycarried by said first member and upper arm, a

pin passing through said slotted cross piece and connecting the lowerarm to the rack carried by said first member,a pinion carried bysaid-first member and engagingsaid racks, means forrotating said pinion,and. rack andpinio'nmechanisms respectively responsiveto relative movef. ments between said firstmember and main sup-f port, andsaid' upperand middle arms, for ini-- tiating motions to compensate the effects ofpitching and rolling of saidsupport.

HALVOR FOLKESTAD LANDSTAD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are file of this patent? g a.-UNITED STATES PATENTS 3 of record inthe Great Britain Feb. 9, 192a

